Manufacturing Article Index

General Knowledge

• Electrical Certification for use in Canada: Recognizing Certification and Why it’s Important
• Why you Can’t Measure Air Temperature with a Laser IR Gun and a Simple, Effective Alternative
• Computational Modelling of Thermal Dynamics and Fluid Mechanics – what is it and how can it help me?​
• Why Your Hot Air Tool Needs Airflow

Basics

• Understanding the Difference Between Flow, Velocity, and Pressure
• ​Temperature versus Heat – What’s the Difference and Why is it Important?
• Air Heater Basics
  • Part One: Air Heaters Defined
  • Part Two: Elements
  • Part Three: Choosing an Air Source
  • Part Four: Hot Air Blowers vs. Air Heaters
  • Part Five: Sizing a Heater and Blower
• The Basics of Heat Calculations​
• All about Blowers
  • Part One: Impeller-based Blowers
  • Part Two: Positive Displacement Blowers
  • Part Three: Blower Comparison Chart
  • Part Four: Specialty Blowers
  • Part Five: Important Design Parameters for Choosing a Blower
  • Part Six: Blower Selection Examples
• Regenerative versus Centrifugal Blowers
• How to Read and Interpret a Blower/Fan Curve​

Building a System

• Understanding Blowers as part of a System
• Steps to Designing a Hot Air System
  • Part One: Define the Problem
  • Part Two: Gather Information
  • Part Three: System Design
  • Part Four: Selecting Process Equipment
• ​Compressed Air versus Blower Systems
• 5 Biggest Mistakes Made When Designing a Hot Air System
• The Importance of Hose 
• Bring the Experts in First – Lessons Learned by Those Who Didn’t
• Building a Heat Recirculating System​
• Sizing your Heater and Blower: The Relationship between Air Flow and Temperature
• Right size your Heater: Don’t just buy the Biggest or Cheapest
• All-in-one Tools are not One-size-fits-all!
• High Flow versus Low Flow Air Heaters
• 3 Things to Consider when Choosing a Nozzle
• Closed-Loop vs. Open-Loop Control Systems
  • Part One: Automating the System
  • Part Two: Understanding Your Process
  • Part Three: When Open-Loop is the Correct Choice
• Power Setting versus Temperature Setting in Hot Air Heaters
• Temperature Control of Air Heaters
• Thermocouples in Hot Air Systems
• Designing your System for Uniform Heat & Airflow
• Using a Variable Frequency Drive to Improve your System Performance

Specific Applications

Shrinking

• Heat Shrink Tunnels Explained
  • Part One: Types of Heat Tunnels
  • Part Two: Advantages and Disadvantages
  • Part Three: Technical Complications of Heat Shrinking
• The Effect of Bottle Shape on Shrink Quality
• Common Shrink Label Problems and their Solutions
• Temperature and Time: Your Formula for Perfect Shrink Labels

Drying/Blow-off

• Optimizing Blow-off Systems for Manufacturers
  
• Heat or Air: Which is the best way to get stuff dry?

Deflashing

• Deflashing Plastic Parts

Heating

• Using Hot Air to Create an Oven

Application Notes & How-Tos

• Application Note: Best Practices in Air Heater Installation
• Application Note: Troubleshooting Leister Air Heaters 101
• Application Note: Using a Leister LHS Air Heater with Compressed Air
• Application Note: Leister SYSTEM Category of Air Heaters
• LE to LHS Air Heater Upgrade
• Application Note: Setting Up the HOTWIND SYSTEM
• Video: How to hook up a LHS SYSTEM air heater 
• Video: Setting up an external closed loop control system with the LHS CLASSIC air heater